Island



(No Model.)

H. O. WEEDEN. METHOD 0]? AUTOMATIC FLUSHING.

No. 416,135. Patented Nov. 26, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY C. IVEEDEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE IVEEDEN SANITARY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF RHODE ISLAND.

METHOD OF AUTOMATIC FLUSHlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,135, dated November 26, 1889.

Application filed March 15, 1889- Serial No. 303,407. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY C. TEEDEN', of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States,

5 have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Automatic Flush ing, of which the following is a specification.

My present improvements relate to a method of producing an automatic flush of the bowl T of a urinal or similar structure whenever the same is used, the flushing taking place by means of a siphon flushing-pipe extending from a supply-tank to the bowl to be flushed, this siphon having an air-exhaust pipe con- I nected with its long leg, and being also provided with a suitable air cut-off-as, for example, a flap-valve below the entrance of the air-pipe. An ordinary S-trap may be substituted for this flap-valve, and will operate in the same way as a plug to prevent the back-draft of air from the bowl. My improved method furthermore includes the use of the fluid introduced into the bowl, when in use, as an agent for producing or causing 2 5 siphon action in the flushing-pipe by the rarefact-ion of air in the long leg thereof.

In the accompanying drawings I have represented at Figures 1 and 2, respectively, two forms of apparatus, in connection with which 0 I will describe my improved method. The method may be followed out by the use of other forms of apparatus as well.

I make no claim herein to any form of apparatus, as the same will be the subject of 3 5 other applications for patents now being pre pared and shortly to be filed.

In the drawings, A represents the supply tank; B, the flushing-siphon; Z), the flap-valve therein, and C the bowl to be flushed, while E represents the air-exhaust pipe communicating with the long leg of the siphon.

In carrying out my improved method I cause a certain quantity of the water which ordinarily passes through the air-pipe in the 5 act of flushing to be retained in the lower part thereof after the flushing action has ceased, and I also cause the fluid introduced into the urinal from without to bring about the discharge of this body of water, which,

flowing out, produces rarefaction in the long leg of the siphon and starts its flow.

In the apparatus represented at Fig. 1 of the drawings I accomplish the retaining of a column of water in the air-pipe by carrying its lower end within a chamber F,formed below the bowl and communicating therewith, as shown, and the mouth of the pipe E,I close by means of a valve G, this valve being of sufficient weight to slightly overbalance the column of water which it thus operates to hold up. As has before been said, I cause the bowl of the urinal to communicate with the chamber F, and I provide a suitable outlet D for the chamber.

According to my improved method I cause the fluid passing from the urinal to effect the uncovering of the mouth of the air-tube E, thus permitting the fluid within it to flow out, and thus rarefying the air in the long leg of the flushing-siphon to start the flushing action. I may accomplish this particular resuit in a variety of waysfor eXample,Imay attach a float to the valve G, and thereby cause the rise of water in the chamber, caused by the introduction of fluid coming from the bowl, to release the valve by flotation; or I may dispense with the float, and by trapping the outlet of the bowl in the chamber, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, to prevent the entrance of air from thebowl,I may cause the entrance of the fluid from the bowl to raise the water-level in the chamber F above the bend of the siphon D, thus starting its action, and the withdrawal thereby of the liquid contents of the chamber F will produce such an atmospheric rarefaction therein as to cause the valve to be unseated, and thus allow the water to flow out of the air-pipe E. \Vhen working in this specific manner, an outwardly-opening pop-valve or air-relief valve f should be placed in the upper part of the chamber F to allow the escape of the air under compression when the liquid therein is rising. Again, as illustrated in 2, I may effect the liberation of the water in the air-pipe through the action of the fluid coming from the bowl, without the use of any chamber or valve. Thus, I may provide the outlet of the bowl with a deep trap H, and connect the air-pipe E with the bottom thereof. hen thus constructed, as is obvious, water will stand in the bottom of E to the same height as in the trap H. If now an auxiliary siphon J, preferably of a small bore relatively to the discharge-pipe, be connected therewith, as shown, having its bend not lower than the normal water-level in the trap, the introduction of fluid into the bowl will cause the water to rise in the short leg of this auxiliary siphon past the top thereof, thus starting its flow, and as it flows it will of course permit the Water standing in the lower part of the air-pipe E to flow out, thus rarefying the air in the long leg of the siphon, as before, and starting its flushing action.

It will be observed that while the various apparatus above described differ materially in construction and specific mode of operation, at the same time they all embody one and the same general method of operation, which I believe to be new with me, for accomplishing the result above set forth.

I do not herein claim any apparatus; but the apparatus described and illustrated in this case is the subject of claim in a pending application of mine, Serial No. 302,7 77.

I claim The method of automatically starting the flow of a siphon to flush a bowl below from a liquid-containing tank above, which consists in pouring other liquid into said bowl, causing the liquid so poured in and descending by gravity to effect the release of a body of liquid normally held within a tube connected with the leg of the said siphon and thereby producing a partial vacuum therein sufficient to start its action, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 9th day of March, A. D. 1889.

HENRY C. W'EEDEN.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. TAYLOR, ELLEN B. ToMLINsoN. 

